Oops! Broke the PCI-e plastic hook thingy

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fromage

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
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Why is there never any accurate documentation on how to safely remove a PCI-e videocard? Call me dumb, but the plastic hook is not the same as AGP, and considering I own a 7800GT, I couldn't even see the damn thing. I had to attempt to do it by feel.

Guess what? I was pushing it the wrong way, and the plastic hook snapped off. Fucking shit. It's hard to see the little thing that locks onto the videocard, as I have a huge heatsink in the way. I've never had any prior experience with PCI-e but god damnit, it should still have atleast a diagram that I can follow.

Although I seriously doubt anything bad will happen because I didn't lock the PCI-e bracket thingy plastic piece of shit, it still pisses me off that I actually broke something on my new motherboard.

The funny part is, this all could have been avoided had there been accurate documentation. I did look through the manual of both my motherboard and the videocard, none of them mention which way to push or pull the locking device. Hell, neither of them even acknowledged the existence of a locking device, so I was left on my own to assume. I assume that you push it down, ala AGP, but before I realized that this was the wrong way, it snapped off. Well, atleast I don't have to worry about this ever again.
 
:confused:

No, I actually consulted documentation prior to attempting anything. Just there was no documentation on this.
 
hey not to be off topic...but I'd change the "fucking" in your title (no swearing or implied swearing is allowed it titles)
 
I'm not sure why you would need documentation. Not trying to be an ass, but it seems kinda natural to push it towards the front of the card. I guess you can push it down, but that seems a little hard to with a card in the slot.

As long as the bracket is screwd in place, you should be ok.

_____________________________________________________________
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Thing is, I couldn't see the freaking thing. I have a huge video card heatsink in the way. I had to do everything by feel. So naturally I thought you push it outwards, big mistake. It broke.
 
I guess Im the only one that finds latches on any card annoying.
I either cut them off or I snap the latch out from between sides so it can be reused later.
I do this to all my boards..never had a problem bringing my rig to a LAN or traveling with it.
 
As long as the thing is securely in place, it's not going to make a difference now is it? I wouldn't stress over it.
 
Maybe it's just me, but from one look at it I could telll how it functioned. Obviously, you push it downward to relieve pressure on the hook which causes the gap to widen. It is difficult to reach once you have a card with any kind of aftermarket or even large stock cooler. I cut them off my A8N32.
 
My question is, how come you forgot it was there? Assuming you built the rig from the sounds of saying your new mobo is now broken. Sounds like you were in a hurry and didn't take time to work with it. Pc items usually only go one way. Take your time if it isn't ocming loose one way. STOP, relax, then try the other way. Things should happen easilly without enough force to break anything.

Anyway to your question you will be fine without the clip, just make sure to screw it down, and if you couldn't see the clip I am sure no one else will notice.
 
YES! I wasn't the only one! I can one-up you though. I did the same on my SLI board, but it wasn't a problem, because I had another slot with a perfect clip where I could learn how to properly unclip the card...but yea..guess what happened upon playing with it... :cool:
 
I broke the top one off of my A8N-SLi Premium mobo ... very hard to get at when you run NV5 Silencers on GTX'rs in SLi :mad:

good idea to just cut them off before installation


 
Agreed! I allways jsut snap mine off so I dont have to deal with them. and I LAN kinda alot.. not so much anymore, but I have never had any problems..
 
I never have a problem with them... although I do find them annoying I just never want to mess anything up so I am uber slow when working inside my case.
 
Pr3z said:
My question is, how come you forgot it was there? Assuming you built the rig from the sounds of saying your new mobo is now broken. Sounds like you were in a hurry and didn't take time to work with it. Pc items usually only go one way. Take your time if it isn't ocming loose one way. STOP, relax, then try the other way. Things should happen easilly without enough force to break anything.

Anyway to your question you will be fine without the clip, just make sure to screw it down, and if you couldn't see the clip I am sure no one else will notice.
Click to expand...


I didn't forget it was there, I knew it was there. I couldn't see it, and I didn't know exactly how it worked. I just applied a little pressure, assuming I was in the right position. I applied too much pressure and it broke. Simple as that.

But the thing that pisses me off the most, is that now the warranty on my Asus A8N-SLi is void. I've only had the motherboard for less than a week.
 
fromage said:
I didn't forget it was there, I knew it was there. I couldn't see it, and I didn't know exactly how it worked. I just applied a little pressure, assuming I was in the right position. I applied too much pressure and it broke. Simple as that.

But the thing that pisses me off the most, is that now the warranty on my Asus A8N-SLi is void. I've only had the motherboard for less than a week.
Click to expand...

Yeh the warrenty thing does suck. But eh... live and learn.. I guess

I don't think they would kill your warrenty on a bad mobo over a broken clip would they?
 
Pr3z said:
Yeh the warrenty thing does suck. But eh... live and learn.. I guess

I don't think they would kill your warrenty on a bad mobo over a broken clip would they?
Click to expand...

i doubt it would if the problem didnt have to do with the graphics. they might try and cause a little ruckus if the problem has to do with the graphics slots though.

just an opinion however.
 
Pr3z said:
Yeh the warrenty thing does suck. But eh... live and learn.. I guess
Click to expand...

And $200 lost if they don't honour the warranty if it might break down. *knock wood*
 
I busted the one off my DFI Expert about a week ago when I built my rig. But these aren't the latch type like my previous Abit NF7-S. I blame this on DFI because the plastic was bent up a little, you almost have to spread the two latches. It was probably still my fault, but you have to break in a new system somehow.
 
today I broke this plastic clip on my a8n-e also!! damn!!! the palstic is so shitty!!!
 
Eh, just take wire cutters and cut off the tab on the video card...especially if it's an expensive one. Problem solved. :D
 
This isn't the 1st time I heard this happen on these forums, so you're not alone. :p

Well, since PCI-e was new to me, I fiddled around with the mechanism before puttin the card in. It seemed pretty self explanitory to me. The plastic tab had the little grooves representing a kind of lever. After pushing it I realized how it worked.
 
Maybe we should poll 'Who still has intact retention clips on their pci-e slots.' Broke both clips off my A8N32 moving cards to/from other mobos, oh well.
 
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